Version-specific content searching

Abstract

Content returned by a search query is specific to a version of a product installed on or associated with the computer system requesting the search. Upon receipt of the search query, a search system accesses a persistent descriptor corresponding to a detected version of the product. The persistent descriptor may be a cookie file stored on the requesting computer system. A product detection module interrogates the computer system to identify the associated products, including the particular versions of those products. The search of a repository of general content related to the product is scoped using the persistent descriptor as a search filter in order to provide version-specific content.

1. A computer-readable storage medium that does not consist of a signal, the computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a computing device to perform a computer-implemented method for providing version-specific content, the the method comprising:
 receiving a search query from a user computer system for a particular product installed on the user computer system; 
 searching a repository of general content related to a variety of products having multiple versions for product-specific content related to the particular product installed on the user computer system; 
 accessing a persistent descriptor of a detected version of the particular product installed on the user computer system; and 
 scoping a search result comprising a set of general content related to the particular product that is responsive to the search query and includes product-specific content related to multiple versions of the particular product by:
 filtering the product-specific content related to the multiple versions of the particular product included in the set of general content based on information in the persistent descriptor, and 
 identifying a subset of version-specific content related to the particular product that is specific to the detected version of the particular product installed on the user computer system from the set of general content related to the particular product that is responsive to the search query. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1  further comprising computer-executable instructions for presenting the search result limited to the subset of version-specific content related to the particular product to the user computer system on which the detected version of the particular product is installed. 
     
     
       3. The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1  further comprising computer-executable instructions for requesting the persistent descriptor of the detected version of the particular product from the user computer system on which the particular product is installed. 
     
     
       4. The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 3  further comprising computer-executable instructions for:
 transmitting a version detection module to the user computer system if the user computer system does not have the persistent descriptor; 
 creating the persistent descriptor of the detected version of the particular product installed on the user computer system at the computing device based on version information received from the version detection module; and 
 transmitting the persistent descriptor created at the computing device to the user computer system for storage on the user computer system. 
 
     
     
       5. The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 4 , wherein the persistent descriptor comprises a cookie file. 
     
     
       6. The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1  further comprising computer-executable instructions for:
 identifying content related to the particular product that is nonspecific to the detected version of the particular product installed on the user computer system from the set of general content related to the particular product that is responsive to the search query; 
 presenting the search result limited to the subset of version-specific content related to the particular product to the user computer system; and 
 indicating to the user computer system that the content related to the particular product that is nonspecific to the detected version of the particular product installed on the user computer system is available for presentation. 
 
     
     
       7. The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1  further comprising computer-executable instructions for tagging subsets of version-specific content related to the particular product in the set of general content related to the particular product that is responsive to the search query to associate each subset of version-specific content with a different version of the particular product. 
     
     
       8. A computing device comprising:
 the computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1 ; and 
 a processing unit executing said computer-executable instructions stored thereon. 
 
     
     
       9. A computer-readable storage medium that does not consist of a signal, the computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a computing device to perform a computer-implemented method for providing version-specific content, the method comprising:
 receiving a search query from a user computer system for a particular software product installed on the user computer system; 
 accessing a persistent descriptor of a detected version of the particular software product installed on the user computer system; and 
 scoping a search result provided in response to the search query to the detected version of the particular software product installed on the user computer system by:
 revising the search query received from the user computer system to include information in the persistent descriptor, and 
 searching a repository of general content related to a variety of software products having multiple versions for version-specific content related to the particular software product that is specific to the detected version of the particular product installed on the user computer system using the revised search query including the information in the persistent descriptor. 
 
 
     
     
       10. The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9  further comprising computer-executable instructions for presenting the search result limited to the version-specific content related to the particular software product to the user computer system. 
     
     
       11. The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9  further comprising computer-executable instructions for transmitting a software product version detection module to the user computer system. 
     
     
       12. The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9  further comprising computer-executable instructions for receiving the persistent descriptor from the user computer system. 
     
     
       13. The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 11  further comprising computer-executable instructions for:
 creating the persistent descriptor of the detected version of the software product installed on the user computer system at the computing device based on version information received from the software product version detection module; and 
 transmitting the persistent descriptor created at the computing device to the user computer system for storage on the user computer system. 
 
     
     
       14. The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 13 , wherein the persistent descriptor comprises a cookie file. 
     
     
       15. The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 10  further comprising computer-executable instructions for providing access to an additional unscoped search result from the repository of general content that includes product-specific content related to multiple versions of the particular software product. 
     
     
       16. A computing device comprising:
 the computer-readable storage medium of  claim 9 ; and 
 a processing unit executing said computer-executable instructions stored thereon. 
 
     
     
       17. A computer system for providing version-specific content to a remote user computer system, the computer system having a processing unit for executing computer-executable modules stored in memory and comprising:
 a data repository of general content related to a variety of products having multiple versions; 
 a detection module to interrogate the remote user computer system to identify a particular product installed on the remote user computer system and a version of the particular product; and 
 a search module to receive a search query for the particular product from the remote user computer system, revise the search query for the particular product to include version information identified by the detection module, search the general content of the data repository for version-specific content related to the particular product that is specific to the version of the particular product installed on the remote user computer system using the revised search query including the version information identified by the detection module, and return a result of the search limited to the version-specific content related to the particular product to the remote user computer system in response to the search query for the particular product. 
 
     
     
       18. The computer system of  claim 17 , wherein the product is a productivity software program installed on the remote user computer system. 
     
     
       19. The computer system of  claim 17  further comprising a descriptor creation module to create a persistent descriptor based on product and version information identified by the detection module. 
     
     
       20. The computer system of  claim 19 , wherein the persistent descriptor is a cookie file.